TomTom GO 930T Review (GPSmagazine.com)

27. Pros

Great looking device
Good documentation
Strong FM transmitter
Ships pre-loaded with US, Canadian, and European maps
Map screen is highly customizable, and can be configured to suit your own preferences (including color scheme, vehicle icon, and how much/little information is displayed on the map screen).
Enhanced Positioning Technology (EPT) works well. Maintains map tracking through tunnels
Ability to enter a desired arrival time, and see how early or late you will arrive at your destination
Broad language support
Smooth map scrolling
Lots of configurable preferences
Ability to select "fastest time", "shortest distance", "walking", or "bicycle" when calculating the route to a destination
Latest Map Guarantee ensures most current maps at time of purchase
High performance GPS receiver

28. Cons

Voice recognition didn't work reliably, and only supports a limited number of functions. It's not possible, for example, to fully enter a destination without touching the on-screen controls. Numbers need to be spoken one at a time (i.e. "three", "five" instead of "thirty five"). Can't use voice to dial a phone number, send an SMS, or route to a saved address from the address book
IQ Routes' traffic information not displayed on the map - no way to tell what the historical traffic for a given route will look like
Screen not as bright as other GPS units
TomTom HOME desktop software is buggy
Advanced Lane Guidance 3D map view not yet available for most highways / intersections
No redundant city labeling
Poor text-to-speech quality compared to other GPS units. Some pronunciations and words have a European reading
Menu button to stop a route is buried three menus deep
Voice input support limited to address entry and responding to basic on-screen prompts. Many functions can not be performed using voice input
Included remote control must be paired to the GO 930T before it can be used
Poor Bluetooth support (Good luck finding a phone that fully supports the TomTom PLUS services)
No way to "optimize" a multi-destination trip (i.e. you can't enter a bunch of addresses and have the GPS sort them by distance)
No way to search across multiple States. Can be problematic of your destination is close to the border of two States and you're not sure which State your destination is located in
Routing engine not as good as Garmin or Magellan
Use of TomTom's services (such as weather, gas prices, etc.) requires a compatible Bluetooth cell phone
Seemingly endless lists of menus and options can be overwhelming and confusing at first. Might be difficult for first-time GPS users
Some text-to-speech oddities. For example, when announcing highway names, the GPS says "highway six-hundred-and-eighty-four" instead of "six-eighty-four"
Map screen looks dated. Needs a design overhaul

29. Conclusion

Elegant and sleek looking, TomTom's GO 930T is one the best looking GPS units I've tested. The black rubberized plastic feels well built, and doesn't pickup fingerprints easily. The included windshield mount is easy to use (although it isn't a powered mount, so you have to connect the traffic and power cables to the GPS instead of the mount), and holds the GPS securely in place when driving.

There's much to like about TomTom's GO 930T, but perhaps the most significant features are Map Share and Map Corrections. Unlike traditional GPS devices where it can take years to correct mapping errors, the GO 930T lets drivers correct mapping errors directly on the device, and then share those corrections with other TomTom drivers via TomTom's Map Share program. TomTom estimates that a typical 1 hour trip will be influenced by more than 20 corrections. The GO 930T can automatically download mapping corrections each time it is docked to a computer running TomTom's HOME software (included). Map Share is free, and represents a significant and continuous improvement to the quality of TomTom's maps.

Also new to the TomTom GO 930T is IQ Routes, an innovative feature that incorporate historical traffic patterns into route calculations, allowing the GPS to make different routing decisions based on the time of day, and day of the week.

The GO 930T is one of the few GPS units in its price class to come with maps of both North America and Europe. International buyers will also appreciate the device's extensive list of supported languages.

I was also impressed with the GO 930T's strong internal FM transmitter, loads of customization options, and Enhanced Positioning Technology (EPT) that lets the device continue tracking your position even during brief GPS signal outages, such as when driving through a tunnel.

However, it's not all good news for the GO 930T. The speech recognition features of the GO 930T feel clumsily and incomplete. Accuracy is inconsistent, and it isn't possible to operate the device using voice commands alone. Only a limited number of voice commands are supported, and you'll still need to touch the screen to begin navigating. Most of the time it's just easier and faster to use the touch-screen controls rather than voice commands.

Advanced Lane Guidance, a feature that displays 3D renderings of upcoming turns, is only available in very few areas, seriously limiting the value of an otherwise handy map enhancement. The GO 930T's screen isn't as bright as it should be, and TomTom's HOME software is so buggy I had to uninstall it in order to restore my PC to a functioning state. Bluetooth support is poor, and TomTom's routing engine isn't as good as Garmin's or Magellan's.

Also disappointing is the GO 930T's reliance on Bluetooth for TomTom's Services; you'll need to pair a compatible Bluetooth enabled cell phone with the GO 930T in order to make use of services like Weather, & Fuel Prices.

TomTom's map screen looks dated, and could use a design update.

The TomTom GO 930T does deliver several exciting and innovative features that improve the value proposition of GPS navigation. However, the GO 930T isn't as easy to use as some other GPS devices, and can be challenging for less tech-savy consumers.

Still, the GO 930T's North American and European maps, and long list of features make this a unique GPS that's competitively priced.